Recount Upholds Cooper Victory

YORK — A ballot recount Wednesday in the 96th District lessened Democrat Shirley Cooper's margin of victory but confirmed that she will retain her seat in the House of Delegates.

The official tally in the Nov. 7 election, confirmed by a panel of three judges Wednesday evening, was 9,783 for Cooper and 9,749 for Republican Michael Maguire. Cooper's margin of victory changed from 37 votes on Election Day to 34 votes.

The original vote was 9,786 to 9,749 in the 96th District, which consists of York, Poquoson and Williamsburg.

Maguire, the Poquoson attorney who challenged Cooper, appealed for the recount immediately after the election because the results were so close.

"I feel victorious," Cooper said Wednesday.

Cooper, who has represented the district for seven years, declared victory after the election but never disputed Maguire's call for a recount.

"I felt very good coming into this, because I realize the competence of the officials in these three areas," she said.

Maguire said he accepts the recount results.

"There should be no question that the results reported are correct," said Maguire, whose campaign manager was among the observers of the recount.

The recount was conducted by Electoral Board members and was watched by observers from the two political parties. Five teams checked counters in ballot boxes and recounted absentee ballots.

York-Poquoson Circuit Judge G. Duane Holloway gave no explanation for the change in election results.

Nelson Harris, a member of the York Electoral Board, said the results in Poquoson and Williamsburg remained the same but that there was a three-vote change in York's totals.

The need to change the vote was found during the recount and was not a result of either party challenging ballots, Harris said.